


Landslide

by sabinelagrande



Category: Cowboy Bebop
Genre: Episode Tag, F/M, Loss, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-06-11
Updated: 2004-06-11
Packaged: 2017-10-04 10:50:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sabinelagrande/pseuds/sabinelagrande
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The crew of the Bebop start to come to terms with the state of things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Landslide

**Author's Note:**

> Major spoilers for Real Folk Blues Part II.

Jet sits on the couch, with a small, strange smile playing on his lips. Every so often, he stirs his chopsticks through a cold plate of beef with bell peppers, sans beef.

Somewhere on a barren stretch of Earth, Ed points a finger at a star she can't even see. "Bang," she says, and she doesn't know why. Ein does, and he lets out a low, mournful howl. But then Ed sees another meteorite fall, and she's off again.

He lifts a morsel to his mouth and chews thoughtfully. That kid… he doesn't want to think about it just now. He settles for whistling an easygoing little tune, the one Spike likes. Used to like.

As expected, he elicits a fresh burst of sobbing from Faye. She's been crying for over three hours now, only stopping now and again to mutter things under her breath. Jet lights a cigarette and pretends like he can't hear her.

He never understood the two of them. She was in love with the kid, obviously. Not hard when you can't remember what life was like before you met a person. Faye, the perfect poster child for lost causes.

Idly, he turns on the TV. Instead of Big Shot, it's something he doesn't recognize. Oh. Right. Jet swears under his breath and turns it off.

Jet wonders just what Spike found out- if he really has been living with a dead man, or just a crazy one. A chuckle escapes his lips. He can't really do anything but laugh about it now. It's all that seems right.

The noise that he's been valiantly attempting to ignore finally stops. Faye wanders in, her face and clothes a complete wreck. Jet is struck by how very young and frail she is.   
"I'm leaving," she says, her voice thick. He takes a deep drag on his cigarette.

"No, you're not," he replies. "You're ship's not ready, and even if it was, you got nowhere to go. I heard you tell Spike." She flinches noticeably at his name, hand going to her stomach like she's just been stabbed.

"I don't care anymore," Faye says, trying for anger, but not quite reaching it. He sees her knees start to give, is up and catches her before she hits the ground. Jet sits her carefully on the couch and puts his real arm around her.

"You're the only one left," she says through her tears. "Everyone and everything I've ever had is gone." Her voice stars slurring. "Don't leave me, Jet, don't make me go." The rest is incomprehensible. He strokes her hair awkwardly and says little comforting things that mean nothing, all the while wondering how he got into this in the first place.

The old medicine man closes his eyes and blows a cloud of sand from his hand, another prayer to Wakantanka. Swimming Bird has found his peace. He smiles.

He just holds her for a long time. Finally, slowly, he gets up, his leg twinging.

"Where are you going?" Faye asks, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Going to see if I can get this heap off the ground," Jet replies. "We can't stay here forever."


End file.
